Numbers don't always tell the story, especially for LBs who can have their tackle numbers inflated for a variety of reasons. In the case of Lawrence Timmons, the numbers truly do tell the tale. He was Mike Tomlin's first ever draft choice as the head coach of the Steelers, and Tomlin envisioned Timmons as another Derrick Brooks from the MACK position in LeBeau's 3-4 defense. Timmons is at his best when he is attacking, running the fire-x blitzes, and is surprisingly good in coverage. A lackluster 2011 season marred by an ill-fated position switch to James Harrison's ROLB position has made many forget the near-DPOY-caliber season Timmons had in 2010. He followed 2011 up with some choppy play early in 2012, but after the Steelers' early week 4 bye, Timmons came back in full force and outright won games for the Steelers. Bulked up to nearly 250 lbs, Timmons still has the explosiveness and ridiculous closing speed he had as a younger player (ask Chris Johnson). In addition, he has gained strength and valuable experience, and is able to cover for the inadequacies of his ILB partner while still being the most impactful player on the Steelers defense in 2012.

Lawrence Timmons is now one of my favorite players not that it means much.

I mentioned that I believe that Timmons is becoming the new Troy. His instincts are getting better as well as his overall understanding of what his position requires. Barring injuries and positional changes, Timmons should hear his name spoken/mentioned often. The Steelers now have more pass rushers along the front 7 more then they've had in Timmons entire time on defense. Which will allow him free lanes to attack runners and QBs. Timmons is just onw entering his prime and it's going to be great watching him flourish at take his game to the next level._________________

While he didn't start full time in 2008, I think that would have to be the best group he's played with. I don't see how the front 7 compares to that group, unless Jarvis Jones steps in day 1 and dominates.

Timmons would be a lot better served if he just had a guy next to him who wasn't as limited as Foote and the aging Farrior had become.

I remember you were very critical of Timmons before the 2012 season, so seeing you give him such high praise is a testament to how good he was.

Hopefully, the staff isnt stupid enough to ever move him from ILB again.

it was only out necessity that he was moved to Olb. If I remember correctly, in 2011 at one time 3 OLBs were injured on the steelers roster.

Now that they've drafted Jarvis, still have Woodley, Worilds, Carter and Robinson- they have enough bodies at OLB to where Timmons shouldn't be forced to slide over and play OLB again._________________RIP SSFmike23md

I remember you were very critical of Timmons before the 2012 season, so seeing you give him such high praise is a testament to how good he was.

Hopefully, the staff isnt stupid enough to ever move him from ILB again.

it was only out necessity that he was moved to Olb. If I remember correctly, in 2011 at one time 3 OLBs were injured on the steelers roster.

Now that they've drafted Jarvis, still have Woodley, Worilds, Carter and Robinson- they have enough bodies at OLB to where Timmons shouldn't be forced to slide over and play OLB again.

Regardless of the reason, it was still a bad decision, as it made two position weaker instead of just one.

OLBs being injured weakens one.

Timmons moving to a position he isnt suited to play in the NFL and being replaced with a lesser player at ILB weakens 2.

I get that they MAY have not had alot of options, but it should never happen again.

Usually, I'd agree with this, but in 2011 the team still had Farrior and Foote was a reserve. It made sense to insert Larry Foote into the line up and move Timmons to OLB. Foote is a good ILB, the drop off from Timmons to Foote at ILB is not that large. You want your best 53 players on the field if the players fit into their positions. Inserting Foote and shifting Timmons to OLB meant that at that moment the best 4 Healthy LBs were on the field._________________RIP SSFmike23md

I remember you were very critical of Timmons before the 2012 season, so seeing you give him such high praise is a testament to how good he was.

Hopefully, the staff isnt stupid enough to ever move him from ILB again.

it was only out necessity that he was moved to Olb. If I remember correctly, in 2011 at one time 3 OLBs were injured on the steelers roster.

Now that they've drafted Jarvis, still have Woodley, Worilds, Carter and Robinson- they have enough bodies at OLB to where Timmons shouldn't be forced to slide over and play OLB again.

Regardless of the reason, it was still a bad decision, as it made two position weaker instead of just one.

OLBs being injured weakens one.

Timmons moving to a position he isnt suited to play in the NFL and being replaced with a lesser player at ILB weakens 2.

I get that they MAY have not had alot of options, but it should never happen again.

Usually, I'd agree with this, but in 2011 the team still had Farrior and Foote was a reserve. It made sense to insert Larry Foote into the line up and move Timmons to OLB. Foote is a good ILB, the drop off from Timmons to Foote at ILB is not that large. You want your best 53 players on the field if the players fit into their positions. Inserting Foote and shifting Timmons to OLB meant that at that moment the best 4 Healthy LBs were on the field.

Farrior moved laughably slow all 2011 and it was obvious 5 games into the season he was done. Foote is still decent for us.

While I dont disagree that you want your best 53 on the field, the fact of the matter is that Timmons is not a good OLB and moving him over really didnt help us much. What it did do was make our

Im not going to debate about 2011 too much though. What's done is done. I am just saying that they need to make sure they never do it again. Timmons is a great/borderline elite ILB. Keep him there and make sure you have a backup plan that doesnt include moving him to OLB where he is a mediocre player. Id rather put a practice squad player at OLB than move Timmons to OLB again._________________Steelers Chise - Follow

I remember you were very critical of Timmons before the 2012 season, so seeing you give him such high praise is a testament to how good he was.

Hopefully, the staff isnt stupid enough to ever move him from ILB again.

it was only out necessity that he was moved to Olb. If I remember correctly, in 2011 at one time 3 OLBs were injured on the steelers roster.

Now that they've drafted Jarvis, still have Woodley, Worilds, Carter and Robinson- they have enough bodies at OLB to where Timmons shouldn't be forced to slide over and play OLB again.

Regardless of the reason, it was still a bad decision, as it made two position weaker instead of just one.

OLBs being injured weakens one.

Timmons moving to a position he isnt suited to play in the NFL and being replaced with a lesser player at ILB weakens 2.

I get that they MAY have not had alot of options, but it should never happen again.

Usually, I'd agree with this, but in 2011 the team still had Farrior and Foote was a reserve. It made sense to insert Larry Foote into the line up and move Timmons to OLB. Foote is a good ILB, the drop off from Timmons to Foote at ILB is not that large. You want your best 53 players on the field if the players fit into their positions. Inserting Foote and shifting Timmons to OLB meant that at that moment the best 4 Healthy LBs were on the field.

Farrior moved laughably slow all 2011 and it was obvious 5 games into the season he was done. Foote is still decent for us.

While I dont disagree that you want your best 53 on the field, the fact of the matter is that Timmons is not a good OLB and moving him over really didn't help us much. What it did do was make our

Im not going to debate about 2011 too much though. What's done is done. I am just saying that they need to make sure they never do it again. Timmons is a great/borderline elite ILB. Keep him there and make sure you have a backup plan that doesnt include moving him to OLB where he is a mediocre player. Id rather put a practice squad player at OLB than move Timmons to OLB again.

I agree that Farrior was done in 2011. I think they've done a good job the last few years bringing in youth to make sure they are never in the position they were in during the 2011 season again. I like the group of young LBs the team has.

I don't remember there being any LBs on the practice squad or what have you back in 2011 that were a better option than just using Timmons. I could be wrong, but I believe they did what that had to do for those few games when they had a lot of injuries.

Lets hope they never have to do it again and with the youth they have at all LB positions, I don't believe they will._________________RIP SSFmike23md

the "timmons to OLB" was a typical anti-young guy move by our defensive coordinator. Chris Carter was healthy and available. against Jacksonville, both Sylvester Stevenson and Chris Carter were healthy, and they got a combined 0 snaps. Lawrence Timmons played the entire game at ROLB against the almighty Cameron Bradfield at LT.

the "timmons to OLB" was a typical anti-young guy move by our defensive coordinator. Chris Carter was healthy and available. against Jacksonville, both Sylvester Stevenson and Chris Carter were healthy, and they got a combined 0 snaps. Lawrence Timmons played the entire game at ROLB against the almighty Cameron Bradfield at LT.

I am getting sick of the youth being shoved to the back of the closet, so to speak. Barring injury or just being terrible, if Jarvis Jones doesnt get a good bit of reps, I will start calling for LeBeau to be fired.

Some may not like that, but our team isnt in the same position its been in in the past where we could afford to sit young players for a few years. We need our rookies to contribute.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY...PUT CAMERON HEYWARD IN THE GAME! If he plays and sucks, so be it, but he has shown nice flashes and we are wasting his talent on the bench._________________Steelers Chise - Follow

the "timmons to OLB" was a typical anti-young guy move by our defensive coordinator. Chris Carter was healthy and available. against Jacksonville, both Sylvester Stevenson and Chris Carter were healthy, and they got a combined 0 snaps. Lawrence Timmons played the entire game at ROLB against the almighty Cameron Bradfield at LT.

over a 16-game season, that averages out to 29 solos, 8 assists, 12 tackles for loss, 0 sacks.

yet neither Sylvester Stevenson, who is one of the only players in the NFL to manage a 3-sack game against Alabama, nor Chris Carter could sniff the field.

FourThreeMafia wrote:

I am getting sick of the youth being shoved to the back of the closet, so to speak. Barring injury or just being terrible, if Jarvis Jones doesnt get a good bit of reps, I will start calling for LeBeau to be fired.

facts. right there. Thems the facts...we're about to redshirt Cam Heyward for a 3rd consecutive season as well and make no mistake, if JJ Watt would've been drafted in 2011, he'd be riding the bench as well.

FourThreeMafia wrote:

AND FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY...PUT CAMERON HEYWARD IN THE GAME! If he plays and sucks, so be it, but he has shown nice flashes and we are wasting his talent on the bench.